Words cross boundaries: Central America Counts back to Panama with a proposal that goes beyond literature

● For the second time, the region's largest festival will be held in Panama with activities at Colón and the capital.
● Central America Counts with a diversity of programs. More than 80 creators and creators will participate in a number of activities that make Panama a stage of living culture.

Panama March 17, 2025. Panama will again be the capital of Spanish-language letters from May 18 to May 23 with the new edition of the Central American Festival. For 6 days, the country will have more than 80 voices from literature, cinema, journalism, creation and music from 18 Ibero-American countries.

At this festival, participants will share about literary creation, cuisine, sports, tourism and local issues with global impact as the role of the Canal and what it means for the Panamanian selection to be the only country of the isthmus to participate in the football world, among other issues of interest.

"For the second time, and with the help of Panama's Ministry of Culture, we put Panama as a cultural destination as we did in 2024. That country stands out for its cultural wealth, excellent geographical location, high air connectivity, infrastructure and, above all, an enormous interest of its inhabitants in literature and culture," stated Claudia Neira Bermudez, director of Central America.

For his part, Panama's Minister of Culture, María Eugenia Herrera stated that "Panama's presence in Central America counts as a sign of our commitment to the region's literature and cultural dialogue. That space allows us to share our voices, our stories and our diversity, strengthening our links as Central American. Panamanian culture proudly projects itself at this meeting, showing that our traditions and our creativity are an integral part of the cultural fabric of Latin America."

The Central American Festival counts is a platform for dialogues that have been born from the region and have been transformed into an Ibero-American reference place in Spain, Central America and the Caribbean with an established annual meeting. In 2024, we have hundreds of participants at the Old Town, universities and bookstores and with more than 50 participants.

One of this year's novelties is to start the festival's activities in the town of Colón on May 18. At the Center for Art and Culture of Colón (CACCO) with literary and child activities and a kitchen workshop with the Panamanian chef Mario "Maito" Castrellón.

For the first time, we will discuss creative cuisine with local and international chefs such as Sergio Diaz (Guatemala), Mario "Maito" Castellón (Panama) and Andrea Pinzzo (Panama). We will also discuss football with key figures from sports journalism both inside and outside Panama and science with the neurociatric Jesús Ramírez Bermudez (Mexico) that will explore the links between creativity and brain and also important issues as urban and cultural tourism.

To close up, Rubén Blades (Panama) and the Pulitzer Junot Diaz (Dominican Republic / United States) will discuss two ways to count human reality: the song and the novel. To this we have a reading of poetry with live vinyl, where the word finds new forms of circular and resounding.

The voices confirmed to participate in the event include Rubén Blades (Panama), Junot Diaz (Dominican Republic), Jesús Ramírezo-Bermudez (Mexico), Almudena Bernabéu (Spain), Javier Zamora (El Salvador / Estados Unidos), Luis García Montero (Spain), Frank Báez (Dominican Republic), Fernanda Melchor (Mexico), Fernando Palomo (El Salvador / Estados Unidos), Gioconda Belli (Nicaragua), Sergio Ramirez (Nicaragua), Agustina Bazterrica (Argentina), Argentina (Argentina), Argentina (Argentina), and Argentina (Argentina), Argentina (Argentina), and Argentina (Argentina).

The issue comes to Panama with the support of its global partners: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Aecid), the European Union in Central America, the Bank for Development of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and its local partners: the Panama Canal, the Airlines Cup and the General Bank of Panama.

It also has the support of a number of private and international cooperation and local partners, including Mayor of Panama, Open Society Foundation (OSF), National Foundation for Democracy (NED), OXFAM, Instituto Cervantes, Spanish Cultural Action, Penguin Ransom House, Morgan Foundation, International Film Festival of Panama (IFF), Panama's Chamber of Book (CAPALI) and the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (AFADE) as well as local sponsors such as Bank of Commerce, Gabriel Foundation Lewis, Pro Wellbeing Foundation, Our Cause Foundation and Fidra Foundation.

All events at the festival are free and complete. The festival will have many headquarters such as the City of the Arts, the Canal Museum, the Colón Center of Art and Culture (CACCO), the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Ernesto J. Castillero R. National Library, the Cultural Center of Spain, Casa del Soldado and the universities of Panama and Santa María La Antigua.

About the Central American Festival
The Central American Festival counts as a platform for dialogues that have been born from the region and that since exile has been transformed into an Ibero-American reference for viewing literature in Spain, Central America and the Caribbean with established annual meetings. It was founded in Managua in 2013 by Sergio Ramirez (Cervantes Award 2017) and its main aim is to contribute to the projection and dissemination of Ibero-American literature from Central America. The program includes dialogues, training workshops, presentations and visits to schools and universities where authors and authors discuss and reflect on literary creation, diaspora, identity, and crime, diversity, and democracy, as well as with other issues, and with their diversity, and with their diversity, and with their diversity and with their diversity and with their diversity and with their diversity and with their diversity.
The festival has held more than 700 events with the most representative voices from Latin America, Spain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands.